Best of 2022

Top 10 Dessert Person Recipes (all taken from Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz)

10. Minty Lime Bars

9. St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

8. Malted "Forever" Brownies

7. Rhubarb Cake

6. Almond Butter Banana Bread

5. Rice Pudding Cake with Mango Caramel

4. Confetti Cake

3. Plumb Galette with Polenta and Pistachios 

2. Salty Nut Tart with Rosemary

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Sharon's Best Novels (Sharon read female and male authors of Black, Irish, Asian, German, Hispanic and Native American Heritage this year)

(1) A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande

(2) The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

(3) We the Animals by Justin Torres

(4) After Midnight by Irmgard Keun

(5) The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Sharon's Best Nonfiction
(1) Ratchetdemic: Reimagining Academic Success by Dr. Christopher Emdin
(2) Did I Say That Out Loud? Midlife Indignities and How to Survive Them by Kristin van Ogtrop

(3) Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change by Octavia F. Raheem

David's Best Novels

(1) Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnolly

(2) The Man Burned By Winter by Pete Zachariah

Books Read Aloud by Our Entire Family - Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by Jack Thorne

Book Read Aloud by David to Mateo - The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Best Public Art Exhibits (in NYC and Spain)

Sharon went to see these solo this year:

January - Brier Patch by Hugh Hayden in Madison Square Park 

February - Bloom by Habitat Worskhop in Time Square

March - The Pool by Jen Lewin in Industry City, Brooklyn

April - The Poem by Raul Cordero in memory of Reinaldo Arenas in Times Square

May - Fifth Avenue Blooms by Alexandre Benjamin Navel and presented by Van Cleef and Arpels & Fifth Avenue Association

June - Empower Flower by Rubem Robierb in Randall's Island 

July - Sense Fi (Endless) by Carles Torrent Pages in Parc dels Estanys en Platja d'Aro in Spain

August - Street Murals by Loraine Motti on the Coulee Verte (Parisian High Line) and Changing Spaces (Interactive Water Sculpture) by Jeppe Hein @ Rockefeller Center

September - little AMAL WALKS (Central Park, Central Park West, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn St. Anne's Warehouse, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Walk Along the Brooklyn Bridge, and in our very own neighborhood of Washington Heights outside United Palace Theater)

October - High Line Art (including Women & Children, You know who I am and Windy)

November - Ancestor by Bharti Kher presented by the Public Art Fund in Central Park

December - Lights Up Giant Red Striated Apple with Bench Inside and Cutout Green Christmas Tree with Bells Inside and a Score to Play "Jingle Bells" @ Lincoln Center

Best Public Art Seen All Year - little AMAL WALKS was the unifying art event of the season, bringing so many New Yorkers together, and the experience of walking with a giant puppet down Central Park West and over the Brooklyn Bridge was ELECTRIFYING and LIFE CHANGING

Our Favorite At Home Grown-Up Movies

(1) The Sound of Metal
(2) Arctic

(3) Riders of Justice

(4) Yesterday

(5) Valley of Love

(6) Under the Sand

(7) Dunkirk
(8) Mr. Jones

(9) The Photographer of Mauthausen

(10) Undefeated

(11) The Crucible (Daniel Day Lewis version)

(12) New Year's Eve

(13) My Octopus Teacher

(14) Show Me Love

(15) Crazy Rich Asians

(16) Omar

(17) Manhattan Romance

Best Movie Seen In a Movie Theater - Top Gun Maverick (Rumination on aging and relevance combined with Tom Cruise back on the big screen made this a PHENOMENAL movie experience)

Best Movie Sharon Saw At Home Solo - Reversing Roe (absolutely predicted and showed the 40+ year campaign the led to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade)

Best Family Movie - Shrek 

Best New Year Activity - Dave & Buster's in Times Square (our first time EVER THERE!)

Best NYC Film Festival - NYC International Children's Film Festival (Sharon took Alexi and Mateo back in-person to see Kid's Cup, a movie about an international soccer competition for kids)

Favorite People/Places/Publications to follow on Twitter

1. School Personnel Lost to Covid - @LosttoCovid

2. DOE - @DOECorruption

3. Elon Musk - @elonmusk

Best Birthday Party - Snow tubing during an early morning snowfall @ Campgaw Mountain in New Jersey to celebrate Mateo turning 9(!)

Best NY Museum for Families - Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium 

Best Parisian Museum for Families - The Louvre

Best Yoga  - Sharon Yoga Teacher June's Yoga On Demand, Emilie Brockman's MfA Yoga and Roque's MfA Yoga (all done by Sharon at home in the comfort and safety of her living room)

Best Family Cycling  - I Pedal NYC (second annual ride for us; this year we pedaled with friends Ellie and Kepfram)

Best Sharon+Alexi+Mateo Event - Ice Skating on Governor's Island during 60 degree day when ice was melting during Midwinter Recess(!)

Best Indoor Theatre Performance Seen By Our Family - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway

Best Outdoor Theatre Performance Seen By Our Family - As You Like It Shakespeare in Central Park (modern retelling so perfect for Alexi and Mateo's first time attending Shakespeare in the Park)

Most Unusual Theatre Performance Seen By Our Family - A Passion According to Matthew (performed by a Jewish theatre company) at Norte Dame Church

Best Broadway - Almost Famous & A Christmas Carol (in which the phenomenal actor Jefferson Mays played all the characters in this Christmas classic)

Best Family Member Performance - Noye's Fludde by Benjamin Britton (David performed alto recorder in this opera and Sharon, Alex and Mateo were in the audience) AND Concertino in A Minor by Polunin (Mateo performed this 4 hand piano piece at his school grade level concert with his piano teacher Miss Irina)

Best TV Series - Better Call Saul

Best Travel Destinations 

* Catalunya, Spain

* Paris, France

* Jersey Shore

* Virginia Beach, Virginia

* Deer Hyde Park, New York

* Heckscher State Park, Long Island

Best Camping - beachfront cottage for fall foliage camping in Heckscher State Park (again)

Best Halloween Event - Trick or Treating in Dumont

Best Vegetarian Restaurant - Veggie Heaven in New Jersey

Best Outdoor Dining - Queens Night Market (we finally made it there!)

Best Pick-Your-Own Fruit - Alstede Farm (strawberries, apples, pears, and peaches)

Best Sporting Event - NYCFC Campeones Cup

Best Holiday Event - Manhattan Christmas Shopping and seeing the Rockefeller Tree (finally back) 

Best Christmas Surprise - Christmas Caroling in Gramercy Park on Christmas Eve (it was a freezing cold night, and this is the only night all year that Gramercy Park is open to the pubic)

Best View of NYC - High up in an airplane on our first international flight since July 2019

Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City at the End of 2022

(1) THE HEIGHTS - #LifeUptownWayBetterThanLifeDowntown

(2) CYCLING - #CitibikeisLIFE

(3) SCHOOLS - #OurKidsGoToBestSchoolsinNYC

(4) RESTAURANTS - #AmazingFoodAwaits

(5) PUBLIC ART - #OutdoorArtSeenSoloIsAJoyousandLifeAffirmingExperience

Long Island Fall Foliage Camping V2.0

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We were so blessed to once again this year be able to go fall foliage camping in Long Island.	We arrived at twilight&stayed once again in the same beautiful beachfront cabin in Hecksher State Park.
Sharon, David and Mateo all had a case of food poisoning, so we will feeling a little under the weather.	Mateo dressed festively in his Halloween pajamas, despite his upset belly.
Sharon, David and Mateo arrrived on Friday night...	....while Alexi arrived the following Saturday evening.
Mateo and I tremendously enjoy early morning beach walks together looking for shells.	Early morning beach walks in October call for sweats, sweaters and even a scarf for Sharon(!)
As the sun rose in the sky it got warmer, so Mateo and I stripped down to our short sleeve shirts (Mateo's is from whale watching in New Hampshire).	The beach and water are definitely Sharon's happy place and one of her favorite places to be, during any season of the year.
We were in Long Island for Mateo's Manhattan Soccer Club Columbus Day Weekend Soccer Tournament.	de la Nuez is ready to give his all on the field as part of PSG, MSC's premiere team.
Mateo's PSG club gave their all against the other team.	Mateo played his best despite his food poisoning.
The secret as always to a beach campfire with high winds is Purrell hand sanitizer (learned last year).	David created a roaring fire for the kids to roast their marshmallows for s'mores.
Between matches on Sunday we stopped by some indoor batting cages.	Alexi and Mateo both used to play baseball on baseball teams, before focusing on soccer exclusively.
We always enjoy playing mini-golf as a family on our fall foliage camping trip.	It was cool how this mini golf course had many ponds between holes that have gorgeous multi-color fish!
Pizza is one of Alexi and Mateo's favorite foods.	So pizza for lunch is a definite winner.
In the evening we headed to a pumpkin patch.	We selected pumpkins and future jack-o-lanterns.
An incredible sunset greeted us on our ride back to our beachfront cabin...	...and check out the amazing orange-red moon viewed from the beach over the water.
Back at the campsite it was time for some s'mores for the kiddos....	...and time for some moonlight outdoor beach yoga for Sharon.
Our favorite vegetarian restaurant on Long Island is Witches Brew. Sharon&Mateo ordered the same meal.	We had a late night dinner at Witches Brew since that is the soonest time we could get a reservation for four.
This was the view greeting us the beginning of Indigenous People/Italian American Heritage Day.	This lovely sunrise beckoned Sharon to the beach to greet the new day with positivity and possibility.
Beyond beautiful sunrise-the clouds are parting and diagonally framing the sun as it rises.	Now that he is a teenager Alexi sleeps in (with the amigs) & enjoys having his own room while camping.
The next morning Mateo and Sharon felt better, so they went for a quick dip.	This is not the coldest water Sharon has been in.  That would be the Atlantic for the Polar Bear Swim Jan 1st.
Happy Early Halloween from Long Island!	Happy Autumn from the de la Collins family!